The first of our pre-season fixtures is now confirmed as the Royals will travel to Plough Lane to take on AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday 19 July, kick-off 7.45pm.
It was confirmed yesterday that Paul Ince's men would be spending a week training at St George's Park at the start of July and now we have a pre-seasoin fixture in the summer schedule to look forward to.
More pre-season friendlies, which we anticipate will include two matches at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in the final fortnight before the 2022-23 season kicks off, are being finalised and confirmation of our opponents, kick-off dates and times as well as ticket details will be announced in due course.
The two teams are not strangers in pre-season - with Reading having taken on the Dons almost exactly ten years earlier ahead of our Premier League return under Brian McDermott in 2012-13.
On that afternoon, the Royals were rampant, running out 7-0 winners thanks to goals from Adam Le Fondre (two), Jordan Obita, Michail Antonio and a hat-trick from Simon Church!
We were back at AFC Wimbledon in 2018 when the Dons emerged 4-2 victors in a pre-season encounter - Adrian Popa and Sam Smith headed home for the Royals on that occasion.
Competitively, the two teams have not yet met - Reading last played the old Wimbledon side on Boxing Day 2003 when Jobi McAnuff was on the scoresheet for the Dons in a 3-0 win at Madejski Stadium.
Johnnie Jackson's side will start their 2022-23 campaign in League Two following relegation on the final day of the League One season at the end of April.
Mark Bowen, the Royals' new Head of Football Operations, was drafted in as interim manager of the struggling AFC Wimbledon towards the tail end of the season, but he couldn't stop the rot and turn their fortunes around sufficiently to achieve League One survivall; a 4-3 defeat to Accrington Stanley on the final day of the campaign confirmed their fate.
It is the first time that AFC Wimbledon have been relegated since they were formed by fans of Wimbledon in 2002; the Dons won six promotions from the ninth-tier Combined Counties League up to League One in the space of just 14 years but after two seasons of survival they couldn't escape the drop in 2021-22. They will be looking to bounce straight back in 2022-23.
Having been at their Plough Lane home for less than two years, this would be a new ground to tick off for Royals fans hoping to attend the pre-season friendly in July. Ticket details will be announce in due course, so keep your eyes peeled for more information.
